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ARTICLE · 01 JUNE 2004

Notices Of Completion

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
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The year 2004 brought a subtle but important change to California's mechanics' lien law. Under new Civil Code Section 3259.5, for a property owner to shorten the time period for claimants to file liens or related claims, not only must a notice of completion be filed in the applicable county land records, but copies of the notice must also be promptly mailed to the contractor and potential claimants who have served the property owner with a preliminary notice.

United StatesReal Estate and Construction
Robert James
Robert James

The year 2004 brought a subtle but important change to California's mechanics' lien law. Under new Civil Code Section 3259.5, for a property owner to shorten the time period for claimants to file liens or related claims, not only must a notice of completion be filed in the applicable county land records, but copies of the notice must also be promptly mailed to the contractor and potential claimants who have served the property owner with a preliminary notice.

Lien law aficionados will instantly grasp the meaning of this change and need read no further. For everyone else, passage of this humble statute is a good opportunity to recap the overall benefits and limitations of completion notices for private owners, and their corresponding impacts on claimants.

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